Why am I doing this anyway?
Gannon, what the hell are you doing??
This is a question I have asked myself a number of times now. What am I doing exactly? I am traveling to the opposite end of the Earth with almost no plan ahead and no concrete expectations. Why?
Well, one reason is boredom. I was laid off from my video production job in December 2023. It was both incredibly disappointing and a huge relief. Losing your job hurts, especially with how hard it is to get a job nowadays, but I also loathed the work I was doing. In truth, my only source of happiness was the people I got to work with, and I’m thankful to still keep those people in my life.
As I was going through the post-layoff healing process, I had to think about what really made me happy in life. Being alone in the house, chained to my desk in my parents’ basement, and being expected to meet deadlines felt very dystopian and depressing to me. I recalled daydreaming about taking a trip like this throughout the daily slog of repetitive work tasks. I always thought about just getting up, quitting my job, and leaving for Europe - and as I write this sitting in a Chicago coffee shop, preparing to get on an intercontinental flight, it’s actually real now, and it feels amazing.
Loneliness is another reason I am going on this crazy adventure. The more time I spent doing work tasks, the more I realized I missed talking to people every day. Sure, I have my work friends, but the work-from-home days were extremely detrimental to my mental health. Being surrounded by people every day is a life I need to live - I would go crazy without all of you (yes, even YOU!)
I think the thing I’m most excited about is meeting new people. I hope to encounter interesting people, cool friends, or even forge an emotional bond with someone truly special.
One other thing I’m eager to experience is simply living in other cultures to broaden my perspective of the world. I’ve always been interested in what life is like in other countries. I’ve only ever visited Vancouver, Canada and Cozumel, Mexico. Canada had a very United States lifestyle feeling to it, and Cozumel was more of a tourist destination, so I am excited to discover a truly unique set of cities that have been around for centuries!
I feel extremely fortunate to be in the position to take this trip as well. I have to thank my parents, David and Leah, for letting me live in their house rent free for the last 2 and a half years to save up money for this experience. I don’t think a lot of parents would sacrifice as much as they do for me, and I am thankful for them every day. I am also thankful for you (yes, YOU again!) for reading all these posts. Taking notes, writing my feelings down, and sharing them with you is going to be a fun experience on top of all this.
While writing this, I listened to the album KNOWER FOREVER by KNOWER. Thank you to my friend Jordan for suggesting it!
Feel free to suggest more music for my travels - just text me!
-Gannon
